Glastonbury follows Radiohead in cancelling tickets sold on eBay

Glastonbury will cancel tickets offered on auction sites, and Michael Eavis says the idea is Radiohead's. All 112,000 tickets for the June festival went within 23 hours of going on sale on Monday 31 March, and pairs were on eBay almost at once for at least £450, more than twice the £105 face value. Eavis puts part of the demand down to REM and Radiohead topping the bill.

Radiohead's tickets for their summer shows have been turning up on eBay at very high prices too. A spokesman says any fan caught selling one will have it cancelled, since the tickets are not sent out until shortly before the shows, and the band are angry that fans could be made to pay hundreds of pounds to see them. eBay say they take a listing down only when a promoter gets an injunction against a particular seller.

Eavis tells NME he read about Radiohead's plan for their UK tour in its pages. His office emails the eBay sellers it finds to tell them their tickets will not arrive, and one person works on it full time.

We're making a list. We clawed 500 back yesterday alone.

Michael Eavis²

The seized tickets go to fans on a reserve list, who sign up through the Glastonbury Tourist and Information Office. Eavis admits plenty of sellers will slip through, and one eBay seller is already offering a ticket agency booking whose delivery address can be switched to the buyer's.